Rørvang Maria Vilain, Herskin Mette S, Jensen Margit Bak
Aarhus University, Department of Animal Science, Tjele, Denmark.
PLoS One. 2018 Jan 18;13(1):e0191128. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191128. eCollection 2018.
In order to improve animal welfare it is recommended that dairy farmers move calving cows from the herd to individual pens when calving is imminent. However, the practicality of moving cows has proven a challenge and may lead to disturbance of the cows rather than easing the process of calving. One solution may be to allow the cow to seek isolation prior to calving. This study examined whether pre-parturient dairy cows will isolate in an individual calving pen placed in a group calving setting and whether a closing gate in this individual calving pen will cause more cows to isolate prior to calving. Danish Holstein cows (n = 66) were housed in groups of six in a group pen with access to six individual calving pens connected to the group area. Cows were trained to use one of two isolation opportunities i.e. individual calving pens with functional closing gates (n = 35) allowing only one cow access at a time, or individual calving pens with permanently open gates allowing free cow traffic between group area and individual pen (n = 31). The response variables were calving site, calving behaviour and social behaviour. Unexpectedly, a functional gate did not facilitate isolation seeking, perhaps because the cows were not able to combine a learnt response with the motivation to isolate. Dominant cows had the highest chance of calving in an individual calving pen. If an alien calf was present in the group pen or any of the individual pens, cows were less likely to calve in an individual calving pen. Future studies should allow cows easy access to an individual calving pen and explore what motivates pre-parturient cows to seek isolation in order to facilitate voluntary use of individual calving pens.
为了改善动物福利，建议奶农在即将产犊时将待产母牛从牛群转移到单独的围栏中。然而，事实证明转移母牛的实际操作具有挑战性，可能会导致母牛受到干扰，而不是减轻产犊过程。一种解决方案可能是让母牛在产犊前自行寻找隔离空间。本研究调查了临产前的奶牛是否会在群养产犊环境中的单独产犊围栏中隔离，以及该单独产犊围栏中的关闭门是否会使更多母牛在产犊前隔离。66头丹麦荷斯坦奶牛被分成每组6头，饲养在一个群养围栏中，该围栏与6个连接到群养区的单独产犊围栏相通。奶牛被训练使用两种隔离机会之一，即带有可正常关闭门的单独产犊围栏（n = 35），每次只允许一头奶牛进入，或带有永久打开门的单独产犊围栏，允许奶牛在群养区和单独围栏之间自由通行（n = 31）。反应变量包括产犊地点、产犊行为和社交行为。出乎意料的是，一扇可正常关闭的门并没有促进奶牛寻找隔离空间，也许是因为奶牛无法将习得的反应与隔离的动机相结合。占主导地位的奶牛在单独产犊围栏中产犊的几率最高。如果群养围栏或任何一个单独围栏中有陌生小牛，奶牛在单独产犊围栏中产犊的可能性就较小。未来的研究应该让奶牛能够轻松进入单独产犊围栏，并探索是什么促使临产前的奶牛寻求隔离，以便促进它们自愿使用单独产犊围栏。
